This invention relates to a miniature switch that occupies little space, and which is capable of being readily mounted on a printed circuit board (hereafter referred to as a "circuit board").
In a case where a miniature switch is mounted directly on a circuit board, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bottom side of a switch housing 1 is provided with a plurality of outwardly projecting pin terminals 4 the ends of which are bent at a right angle so as to extend in parallel relation to the bottom side of the switch housing, and the tips of these bent terminals 4 are connected to wiring 8 formed on the circuit board 5. A mounting fixture 6 is engaged with a hollow cylindrical bushing 3 into which a toggle lever 2 is inserted, and both ends of the mounting fixture 6 are inserted into holes in the circuit board 5 and are soldered from the back side of the board to fix the switch housing 1 to the circuit board. To claim this art, the applicant has filed an application under U.S. Ser. No. 864,973 (official filing date: May 20, 1986) corresponding to Japanese Utility Model Application No. 59-181297 (filed on Nov. 29, 1984), which was laid open on June 20, 1986 as Japanese Utility Model Application No. 61-96418.
Depending upon the direction in which the toggle lever of the above-described miniature switch is manipulated, the switch is mounted vertically or horizontally. In particular, in an arrangement of the type in which the pin terminals are bent in a direction extending longitudinally of the switch housing to be connected to the wiring (which is the case shown in FIGS. 1 and 2), the pin terminals arranged vertically will extend rearwardly from the bottom side of the switch housing over some distance. This increases the area needed to mount the switch on the circuit board and is an obstacle to reducing the size of the apparatus equipped with the switch.